Lamb of God’s Mark Morton Sits Out of European Tour Dates Due to ‘Family Emergency’

Due to a "family emergency," Lamb of God guitarist Mark Morton is currently sitting out the initial dates of the band's European tour. There's no official word as to how long Morton will be out for, but Lamb of God surprised Austrian fans last night (Jan. 6) by bringing out Between the Buried and Me guitarist Paul Waggoner to fill in for Morton.

Cleared of all charges after a controversial Czech manslaughter trial, Lamb of God vocalist Randy Blythe no longer needs to fear touring throughout Europe. Regarding Morton's absence, Blythe addressed the Austrian crowd as follows: "You may have noticed Mr. Mark Morton is not here with us tonight," Blythe told the Austrian crowd. "He had a family emergency, so he had to stay home. It's family first for this band. We apologize, but he had to be with his family. Luckily, we have a very big music family, so we've got our friend Mr. Paul Waggoner from Between the Buried and Me."

There's no word on how long Morton will be apart from Lamb of God while the band is traversing across Europe. Lamb of God's string of dates only lasts until Jan. 21, so Waggoner could possibly stay on for the whole tour. As BTBAM fans know, Paul Waggoner can basically play anything, so Lamb of God's choice for a fill-in shredder is a perfect one.

Lamb of God will continue touring with Decapitated and Huntress until Jan. 21. The band is also scheduled to release their 'As the Palaces Burn' documentary in theaters worldwide on Feb. 27. Check out clips of Paul Waggoner playing with Lamb of God in the videos above and below.